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WrestleMania XI
WrestleMania XI was the eleventh annual WrestleMania pay-per-view event held by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut on April 2, 1995. The event featured seven matches, which resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by the WWF. The main event was a match between NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who faced Bam Bam Bigelow as the result of an argument that took place between the two at the 1995 Royal Rumble. Taylor won the match, which led to Bigelow being kicked out of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. Shawn Michaels faced WWF Champion Diesel in a title match but was unable to win the championship. Jeff Jarrett retained his WWF Intercontinental Championship against Razor Ramon. Owen Hart and his mystery partner, Yokozuna challenged The Smoking Gunns for the WWF Tag Team Championship and won the title belts. The match between Taylor and Bigelow brought the WWF mainstream press coverage. The reactions to the match were mixed; some people thought that Taylor performed surprisingly well for a non-wrestler. Others thought that the WWF pushing a football player to defeat a wrestler made professional wrestling look bad. Reviews of the event as a whole have also been mixed, and the event has been called both the worst WrestleMania of all time and the event that saved the WWF. Background The most heavily promoted feud going into the event was between Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor. At Royal Rumble 1995, Bigelow teamed with Tatanka in the final round of a tournament for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Bigelow was pinned at the end of the match, which led to the crowd heckling him. He responded by pushing NFL player Lawrence Taylor, who was sitting at ringside. Bigelow refused to apologize and instead challenged Taylor to a wrestling match. Taylor agreed and trained with WWF Champion Diesel to prepare for the match. The storyline between Bigelow and Taylor brought the WWF much mainstream exposure, as the match was discussed by several news outlets. The other main event at WrestleMania was a match for the WWF Championship between Diesel and Shawn Michaels. Diesel had originally entered the WWF as Michaels's bodyguard but later began wrestling and forming a tag team with Michaels. The pair held the WWF Tag Team Championship together in 1994. At Survivor Series 1994, however, Michaels accidentally kicked Diesel in the face. This led to an argument during which Diesel dissolved the tag team and vacated the championship. Three days later, Diesel defeated Bob Backlund to become the new WWF Champion. At Royal Rumble 1995, Michaels won the battle royal main event, which earned him a match against Diesel for the title belt at WrestleMania. The WWF Intercontinental Championship was also defended at WrestleMania. Jeff Jarrett, the champion, had been feuding with Razor Ramon, the challenger, for several months. At Royal Rumble 1995, Jarrett was accompanied by The Roadie, who interfered on Jarrett's behalf and helped Jarrett win the championship. To even the sides in the rematch at WrestleMania, Ramon was accompanied by his friend, the 1-2-3 Kid. In a match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, The Smoking Gunns defended their title. Their opponents were Owen Hart and a mystery partner. Hart refused to tell anyone the name of his partner, which left the Gunns uncertain who they would be facing and led to much speculation about the identity of the mystery partner. Bret Hart faced Bob Backlund in an "I Quit" match at WrestleMania. The feud began the previous summer, when Hart defended the WWF Championship against Backlund. Backlund mistakenly thought he won the match and began celebrating, but Hart pinned him to retain the title. After the match, Backlund turned heel by attacking Hart. This led to a title match at Survivor Series 1994, in which Backlund won the title from Hart. Although Backlund soon lost the belt, the feud continued and Backlund attacked Hart during Hart's match at Royal Rumble 1995. Also at Royal Rumble 1995, The Undertaker faced Irwin R. Schyster as part of The Undertaker's feud with Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. During the match, King Kong Bundy, another Corporation member, interfered and enabled the Corporation to steal The Undertaker's urn, which was said to be the source of his power. Results ; ; *The Allied Powers (Lex Luger and The British Bulldog) defeated The Blu Brothers (Jacob and Eli) (w/ Uncle Zebekiah) (6:34) *Razor Ramon (w/ The 1-2-3 Kid) defeated Jeff Jarrett © (w/ The Roadie) by disqualification in a WWF Intercontinental Championship Match (13:32) *The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) defeated King Kong Bundy (w/ Ted DiBiase) (with special guest referee Larry Young) (6:36) *Owen Hart and Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette) defeated The Smoking Gunns (Billy & Bart) © to win the WWF Tag Team Championship (9:42) *Bret Hart defeated Bob Backlund in a "I Quit" match (with special guest referee Roddy Piper) (9:34) *Diesel © (w/ Pamela Anderson) defeated Shawn Michaels (w/ Sid Justice and Jenny McCarthy) to retain the WWF Championship (20:35) *Lawrence Taylor defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (w/ Ted DiBiase) (11:42) Other on-screen talent See also *List of WWE pay-per-view events *WWF Event History *WrestleMania DVD & Video Release *WrestleMania XI & XII DVD External links * WrestleMania XI at WWE.Com * on WWE Network * WrestleMania XI at CAGEMATCH.net * WrestleMania XI at Online World of Wrestling WrestleMania XI WrestleMania XI WrestleMania XI